Exceeding All Expectations
by DarkNight Fury
Summary: When Draco's parents go to Ireland on an alleged business trip, he gets sent to live in California with an old friend of his mother's. The problem is, she's a witch who prefers living as a muggle, and her daughter can't do magic at all...save for some unu


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Harry Potter Series (unfortunately), but I do own Kayla, Felix, Miss Sullivan, and any other characters you don't recognize from the books.

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Mikayla sighed and turned her eyes from the blurry shapes rushing by the car. The bright California sun shone down on her mother's bright red convertible, giving off beams of reflected light. Kayla was barefoot, with her feet propped against the dashboard. She wore jean capris that showed off her tan legs and a white tank top with a seashell necklace. The entire outfit contrasted sharply with her dark auburn hair, which was cut short and choppy, but matched her deep gray eyes. She idly nodded her head along with the pounding bass coming from the radio that was turned up far too loud, and then turned her attention to her mother as she spoke.

"Kayla it won't be that bad," the much older Miss Sullivan said. "He's only staying with us for a few weeks until his parents get back from Ireland. You know how business trips are."

Kayla muttered something that was incoherent, and scoffed. "How do we even know these people?"

"I told you, I was best friends with Draco's mother, Narcissa, at Hogwarts despite the fact that we were in separate houses. We grew up together, so I expect you to treat young Draco with some kindness and respect."

"Will I still be able to hang out with all my other friends while he's here?"

"Well, I'd rather you didn't. It don't want Draco to be feeling left out."

"Mom!" Kayla said angrily, her voice rising. "You're practically asking me to give up my social life for the next month!"

Her mother sighed. "Alright. You can hang out with your friends, but only if Draco can come with you."

Kayla was about to protest again, but then closed her mouth and let out a frustrated "hmpf".

A few minutes later, they were pulling into the driveway of a big, three story brick house that was surrounded by cherry blossom trees and a white picket fence. It looked like the sort of house one would find in storybooks. It had a warm and sunny atmosphere about it, what with the big bay windows, cream colored trim, and wonderful floral scent that came from the huge array of flowers planted along the walkway. Kayla grabbed her shoes and ran through the freshly cut grass, up the steps, and in through the front door. She zoomed through the entrance hall, up a marvelous wooden staircase, and into her bedroom. Her backpack was thrown carelessly onto a queen size bed with a periwinkle blue comforter in the corner of the room, as she hurriedly checked the messages on her cell phone, which had before been sitting comfortably in its charger. When she was done with it, her face fell.

"He didn't call," she whispered to herself, collapsing into the swivel chair that sat in front of her desk. She was, of course, referring to Corey Nordfield, her alleged boyfriend of the past three months. He hadn't called her once in the past week, and whenever she tried to call him it either went straight to his voice message or he just didn't pick up at all. Now, any other girl with the slightest bit of common sense would have broken off the relationship, but unfortunately Kayla didn't even see it as one of her options. A tear rolled gently down her cheek, but it was quickly wiped away as she stood up.

_Oh come now, everything can't be that bad._

Kayla jumped slightly at the familiar voice as a thin black cat wound itself between her legs. It looked up at her with big yellow eyes and purred.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do," she murmured to it.

_Well…I'm not much good at advice for relationships between humans, but if it's hurting you that badly to be with him, then maybe you shouldn't be with him at all._

Kayla looked thoughtfully down at that cat. Maybe he was right? Had her unnatural bond with the midnight-coated feline actually paid off for once?

"I dunno, Felix," she told him. "I dunno."

_So, _said the cat, jumping onto her bed and lying down. _What's this I hear about a wizard boy coming to stay with us?_

"His name's Draco Malfoy," Kayla told him informatively. "He comes from this family of rich pricks who live over in England. His parents are going to be in Ireland for a little bit so they're sending him to come live with us, which I don't personally understand, because who would want to pay to have their son to come all the way to California when they could've just taken him with them? It would've cost them a hell of a lot less money."

_Depending on how he's traveling of course. Floo powder, most likely._

"Once again I am proven wrong by the cat," Kayla muttered.

"Kayla!" The voice came from down in the kitchen, where her mom had been making lunch. ""I gotta get back to work now so I'll see you around six or seven ok? Draco's supposed to be here around three o' clock so make sure you listen for him…he's coming through the Floo Network."

"Ok mom!"

There was the sound of the front door closing, then opening back up as Miss Sullivan stuck her head in for one final shout. "AND FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, DON'T RIDE YOUR BROOM AROUND UNTIL AFTER DARK!" The front door slammed shut for the final time, and all was quiet in the house. Kayla looked at the digital clock on her desk. Its pulsing red numbers flashed 1:30. What was she supposed to do for the next hour and a half? Wait? She sighed, and glanced at her reflection in her vanity mirror. Her choppy auburn hair was tangled and matted from the drive in the convertible, her eyeliner had faded, and there were dirt stains on her capris and tank-top from the lake (she had slept over at a friends house the night before and they had had a fun time going skinny dipping in the chilly waters).

"I don't look that bad…:

_Pardon me Mikayla, but you smell an awful lot like dead fish to me. Perhaps you should shower before that Malfoy boy gets here?_

She scowled at the cat. For some reason, his British accent made the statement all the more offensive.

"Fine," she snapped. "I'll do as you wish, _Master _Felix." Her poor imitation of his accent only caused him to snort indignantly and trot out of the room, closing the door behind him with a flick of his tail.

Kayla rolled her eyes and proceeded into her very own private bathroom. She turned on the shower, peeled off her clothes, and stepped into the hot stream of water. After shampooing and conditioning her hair, she scrubbed the smell of dead fish off her skin (which she admitted was pretty pungent, but would never tell Felix that she thought so), shaved all the necessary areas of her body, and then finally stepped out of the tub. She dried herself off with a rose colored towel, which she then wrapped around her slender frame and walked out into her room again. It was now ten after two. The bright afternoon sun was pouring in through the bay window that was next to her bed, but she pulled the filmy, light blue curtains over it so that their old decrepit neighbor wouldn't see her changing. There were other windows in her room, but those faced the backyard, where a small grove of trees came up to meet the carefully trimmed grass. No one would be watching her from there.

She rummaged through her closet and came out with a pair of baggy black capris and a tight purple tank top. She put the articles of clothing on, along with a fresh pair of socks and her seashell necklace. She sprayed a small amount of sweet smelling perfume on herself, then dabbed on some black eyeliner and mascara, brushed her hair, and went downstairs.

Felix was sitting on the kitchen counter, as usual, looking immensely satisfied.

"What's up with you?" she asked him suspiciously.

_Oh nothing, _he said happily. _Just haven't had a mouse that good and tender for ages…it was practically a FEAST!_

Kayla raised her eyebrow at him. "Sometimes I wonder about you."

She looked in the refrigerator for what her mom had prepared for lunch, and found two grilled cheese sandwiches and some fruit salad. After she had eaten both of the sandwiches and half the bowl of fruit salad, she went into the living room and sat by the fireplace. It was now quarter to three, judging by the dinging of the mantle clock. She turned on the TV, getting lost in her favorite episode of Futurama, and then SWOOSH!

There was a flash of green fire from the fireplace and then a boy her age was standing there, covered in a light coating of soot. Kayla's first thought was that he was much better looking than she had expected. His silver-blonde hair was spiked up at the front, and his skin was pale but looked incredibly flawless. He stepped out of the grate, there was another flash, and in the pit now were a trunk and what looked like a backpack shaped pouch that was made up of faded red velvet and tied with a thin gold rope. The boy grabbed the pouch and started heading for the stairs. He must've realized that Kayla wasn't following him, for he turned around and gave her a cold glare.

"Well?" he said haughtily. "Aren't you going to help me with my trunk?"

Bewildered, Kayla hauled the trunk (which proved to be much heavier than it looked) after him. She had a rather hard time getting it up the stairs, but after a lot of muscle work and more than one snide comment from Draco, she managed to get it onto the landing, only to have to go quickly after the fair haired boy again. While she was behind him, she noticed that he was wearing a pair of flowing black robes that was most common among wizarding folk, and also that as he walked he seemed to be peering into all the rooms he passed, as though choosing which one would better suit him. Finally, he stopped in front of the door at the very end of the hallway and turned to her.

"This will be my room," he said firmly. He had the tone of someone who had never been disobeyed before. He walked into the room and stood in the middle. Kayla followed. It was one of the smaller rooms in the house, and not nearly as colorful. It had been her brother's old room before he had moved into full time at the Ministry of Magic. He had always been a strange one. The walls were painted with bright lime green paint and the trim around the windows and carpet was black. There were several burn marks on one of the walls where he had been practicing spells and it had gotten a little out of control, but other than that the room was in perfect condition. A king size bed sat in one corner of it, and a desk (also painted black) sat in another.

"This will do," she heard Draco mutter, but then acted like she hadn't heard anything when he turned to face her. She looked at him, and was immediately taken in by his dark green eyes. They shone like polished emeralds in the sunlight, and if it hadn't been for the utter coldness in the look he was giving her, she would have complimented them.

"As for you," he said, eyeing her as if judging her worth. He opened the pouch and dumped out what seemed like a mountain of clothes. She wondered how that many clothes could possibly fit in such a small space, but then felt foolish. Draco shoved a pile of clothes into her arms. "I will need these washed by tomorrow morning, so go put them in whatever contraption you people use for washing clothes."

"Uh…huh…"

"Aren't you supposed to be going?" He snapped at her, making her almost drop the garments she was holding. "I'm sure you have something that needs to be clean in this house….what else are you servants good for? And after you're done with that lot, the rest of my clothes need to be done as well. Those burns on the wall won't do either…you'll have to paint over them….ugh I can't believe I have to stay in this house for an entire month….WELL! GET GOING!"

Kayla had had it. She dropped the dirty clothes on Draco's feet.

"Let's get a few things straight here," she said, speaking fiercely. "I'm not your servant. I'm not gonna wash your clothes for you, or paint the wall, or do anything for you that is completely out of my way. SO DO IT YOURSELF. Second, I'll be nice to you, but if you really push my buttons, so help me god I will send you back to England in a box. And third, don't think that just because you're rich and your family's powerful that I'm gonna treat you any different from a regular person."

For a moment Kayla actually thought she saw a look of surprise on his face, but it passed as quickly as it had come, replaced with the same stony faced expression. "Hmpf," he snorted. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get settled into my new bedroom, so _please leave._" The last two words were spoken so harshly that Kayla left the room; she shut the door behind her and heard it lock, and then went back to her own room and flopped down on her bed. Felix crawled up next to her and licked her hand.

"This is gonna be one hell of a month," she sighed, scratching him behind the ears. Felix, who had been lurking around the corner during her and Draco's confrontation, nodded in agreement through fits of purring.

_It'll be alright, love, it'll be alright._

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So…what did everyone think? I'm sorry if things are a little confusing right now, but later on in the story I'll explain why Kayla can talk to animals and other little details that I might have missed. For now, R&R please! Flames will not be tolerated!

3 DarkNight Fury


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